RI grooms six pairs for world bridge tournament
RI grooms six pairs for world bridge tournament
JAKARTA (JP): Fired up by a series of victories in the Far East Bridge Federation Championship, Indonesia has set its sights on winning a world title in the near future, says Indonesian Contract Bridge Association (Gabsi) chairman Wiranto.
Indonesia, which was powerful in the Far East region for a decade during the 1970s and 1980s, has now set itself the target of winning a world title: either the Bermuda Bowl or the World Junior championship.
"I think it's high time that we tried our best for a world title," said Wiranto during a fast-breaking gathering on Wednesday.
Through hard work and serious preparation, he said, Indonesia could become the world champion within a few years.
Gabsi is grooming six pairs for the fifth World Junior Bridge Championship, scheduled for July 8 to 17 in Bali.
Manado, North Sulawesi, is the country's powerhouse in this 'brain sport'. It dominated the nomination of the pairs, supplying four out of the six pairs selected for the forthcoming competition. The other two pairs were taken from Jakarta and from Semarang, Central Java, with each city supplying two athletes.
The pairs are John Tumewu/Ananta Dapu (Manado), Jimmy Boyoh/Polii (Jakarta), Taufik Nasution/Agus (Jakarta/Semarang), Jimmy Angkow/Novry Kaligis (Minahasa), Frits Rajawane/Paulus Palenewen (Manado), and Boy Roring/Willem Rumate (Minahasa).
The World Bridge Federation gave Indonesia the choice of hosting one of the three world events to be organized this year, which are the prestigious Bermuda Bowl, the symbol of world supremacy in contract bridge; the Venice Cup, which is the paramount bridge competition for women; and the world junior championship.
Gabsi opted to host the junior competition because the bridge organization believes that holding this event at home will boost Indonesia's chances of winning a world title.
Seventeen teams will compete in the world junior championships: four from the European zone, four from the North American zone, two from the Latin American zone, two from the Far Eastern zone and one from the Australian-New Zealand zone.
One bridge observer has said that the most challenging opponents will be Denmark, the reigning champion; the other European teams; and the American teams. "They are very powerful and they will make the competition tougher," he said. (rsl)